a little hartford girl was attacked on december 30th. why did the powers that be wait until january 6th to release info?

they KNEW who the alleged perp was. perhaps someone saw him prior to the release of his picture yesterday. perhaps he COULD have been caught. hell, the little girl lost an arm.

Detectives in the juvenile division of the Hartford Police Department said Friday they were searching for Jamie Hoy, also known as Jaime Hoy, formerly of 1 Lawrence St., on kidnapping and abuse charges. Copyright 2006, Hartford Courant

Man Sought After Girl, 6, Is Burned And Beaten As Result Of Brutal Attack An Arm Couldn't Be Saved
By TINA A. BROWN
Courant Staff Writer
January 7 2006

A brutal attack on a 6-year-old disabled girl in which she suffered burns and broken bones that led to the amputation of her left arm has police looking for a 29-year-old city man.Detectives in the juvenile division of the Hartford Police Department said Friday they were searching for Jamie Hoy, also known as Jaime Hoy, formerly of 1 Lawrence St., on kidnapping and abuse charges.The girl, sources familiar with the case said, was severely disabled before the attack. She had limited mobility in her legs, and trouble speaking.On Dec. 30, the child was taken to the hospital with broken bones and burns to her left arm, which had to be amputated, police and sources said.Citing police sources, WFSB-TV, Channel 3, reported that Hoy tried to make a splint for the girl, but allegedly wrapped the arm so tight it cut off the girl's circulation and doctors were later forced to amputate.Police have been looking for Hoy since they were informed of the attack, but did not go public with the information until Friday.Officials at the state Department of Children and Families would not comment on the case late Friday, citing state confidentiality laws that prohibit them from discussing open investigations of possible child abuse or neglect............

connecticut IS one of the 20 states where the irs tracked political affiliations

doesn't sound too very cool to me. if, according to them, they don't 'USE' this information, why the hell do they HAVE it?

IRS tracked taxpayers’ political affiliation

WASHINGTON – As it hunted down tax scofflaws, the Internal Revenue Service collected information on the political party affiliations of taxpayers in 20 states.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a member of an appropriations subcommittee with jurisdiction over the IRS, said the practice was an “outrageous violation of the public trust” that could undermine the agency’s credibility.
IRS officials acknowledged that party affiliation information was routinely collected by a vendor for several months. They told the vendor last month to screen the information out.
“The bottom line is that we have never used this information,” said John Lipold, an IRS spokesman. “There are strict laws in place that forbid it.”
Washington state residents do not express a party preference when they register to vote. Residents of 20 other states and the District of Columbia have to provide a party affiliation when registering. Voter registration information is publicly available.
Murray said she learned about the problem from the president of the National Treasury Employees Union, Colleen Kelly. The IRS is part of the Treasury Department.
“This agency should not have that type of information,” Murray said in a telephone interview from Seattle. “No one should question whether they are being audited because of party affiliation.”...............................

what did wfsb channel 3 run last night at 8

instead of ghost whisperer? some pat robertson piece of shite show on miracles. i didn't watch it so i cannot review it. i can review the man though. close minded, hateful, unaccepting and of course unchristian. i do believe in miracles because i have seen them happen. i just don't believe in pat robertson or wfsb giving that man time (i know he must have paid for it, but it matters not to me) ESPECIALLY after what he said about ariel sharon's condition. so two strikes against the channel now

let's light a candle (or two) for this deployment of connecticut national guard troops

Largest troop deployment from Conn. to head out this weekend
(New Haven-AP, Jan. 6, 2006 5:57 AM) _ The largest troop deployment from Connecticut is scheduled for this weekend as 500 Connecticut National Guardsmen head out.
On Saturday, they will be bused to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where they will spend three to five weeks in training.
From there, they will be deployed to help rebuild Afghanistan.
The 500 soldiers and members of their families were given a send-off last night at Yale University's Payne-Whitney Gymnasium.
The Connecticut National Guard says it represents the largest deployment of Connecticut guardsmen since the start of the war on terrorism in 2001.
The 500 troops come from 135 of Connecticut's 169 municipalities.
No Connecticut National Guardsmen are currently in Afghanistan, but 46 are serving in Iraq.

hartford seminary early morning january 6 2006

i work in the city. this morning while walking from my car into the building, i stopped under a big tree on the edge of one of the parking lots. i was going to attempt to take some pictures. i heard a dog barking but i paid it no mind. i figured it was in a car at one of the banks across the street. all of a sudden i looked to my left and there was a fox (well it wasn't a dog, it could have been a coyote but i do believe it was a fox) staring me straight in the eye. it continued to bark a bit, then turned on it's heels and abruptly left as soon as it had come. i did too by the way. anyway, i took this picture a few minutes before the encounter

we're always getting shortchanged

BUT not to worry - we're a STRONG and hardy bunch o' folk AND the birthplace of bushwhacked (we're sorry!!!)!

from officer.com

Connecticut Shortchanged on Terrorism Funds

Connecticut Post (Bridgeport, CT)

How likely is a terrorist attack to take place in Baton Rouge, La.?
According to the federal Department of Homeland Security, the likelihood of a terrorist attack in Baton Rouge is greater than in the cities of Bridgeport, New Haven or New London.
Go figure.But that's a conclusion that can be reached after the news this week that more than two dozen metropolitan areas, including Baton Rouge, will be eligible for $765 million in federal grants this year to help counter terrorism. Not a single city or region in Connecticut is on the list.
On Tuesday, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff announced the cities eligible for Urban Area Security Initiative grants in 2006. New Haven had been on the list in 2004, but failed to make the cut in either 2005 or 2006.
There are a host of reasons why Chertoff's decision to shortchange the citizens of Connecticut is a disastrous mistake.
First and most obvious is Connecticut's proximity to New York City, the site of two of the four terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Baton Rouge, while certainly a major American city, is 1,374 miles away from Manhattan. Bridgeport is 60 miles away.
That's 22 times closer than Baton Rouge -- and puts Bridgeport within the range of possible fallout from a biological or nuclear attack on the city of New York............

two different lamp posts in the EARLY morning of january 5th

my favorite house in the greater hartford area (1/4/06)

uconn law school january 4th 2006

from todays nyt, (are you sitting down?), an article on downtown HARTFORD

i used to hang in hartford back in the day. the old (ORIGINAL) mad murphys. the bee ins in bushnell park, the fiddle contest each summer
(yes, the picture is blurry but i rather liked it)

Downtown Hartford Stirs From Slumber

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: January 4, 2006
HARTFORD, Jan. 3 - Decades and different tastes separate Lyndsay Stephenson and Bernie Rosen, but they share what might seem an unlikely address - and an unlikely attitude. Both are thrilled to have just moved from the suburbs into a new apartment building in downtown Hartford.
"I love it," said Ms. Stephenson, 24, standing inside the small, glossy lobby of the building, Trumbull on the Park, which overlooks historic Bushnell Park. It opened to residents in early December.
Said Mr. Rosen, 76, his jacket zipped to the chin on his way out the door on a brisk morning, "As I got older I decided I'd like to be somewhere that I could walk to the theater, walk to museums."
Ms. Stephenson, a real estate analyst, prefers partying at the Pour House after leaving her office. Mr. Rosen, a retired school administrator and teacher, would rather wander the galleries of the Wadsworth Atheneum on winter afternoons and attend plays at the Hartford Stage in the evening. But by simply signing a lease, they have become trailblazers of a sort in a city center once so lifeless it had been called America's File Cabinet - a place where, after 5 p.m., outbound bus stops can still account for most of the street life...............

way to go rhode island!!!

i feel very strongly marijuana SHOULD be legalized period (no, i don't smoke it but i want it to be MY choice not the governments) but ESPECIALLY for medical use. if anything helps people going through things like chemo and it causes no great harm, let them use it. i am not a chemist or a physician but i am guessing marijuana causes far less toxic effects to the body than many pain meds do

Rhode Island legislators override governor's medical marijuana veto

more crows

i have a 'thing' for crows and ravens if you haven't guessed that by now. they are one of my totems (wolves being the other).

these were taken in my pop's backyard on monday the 2nd. you cannot tell from these shots but there were HUNDREDS of them in the trees.

it's a mushy mess out there

BUT those weather dudes all had hard ons talking about the 15" we were supposed to get. it rained or wet-snowed so far so not that much build up. what's there is solid, saturated with water, so it's heavy. i'm sure it will freeze and create all sorts of problems. hmmmmmm on tv just now, one of the weather dudes said east hartford got 16". i am finding that VERY hard to believe.

any way this is CONNECTICUT. it SNOWS in connecticut. it's not like it's florida and they're predicting snow. damn, why rile us all up? the mushy-mess streets on garbage day in the hood (1/3/06)

it's important we in connecticut protect our wildlands

many years ago, i saw my first bear (and many loons) in a natural preserve/state park in simsbury (or was it granby???). i saw my second up a tree in our work parking lot when our office was in avon. i've seen coyotes and wild turkeys (they are PIGS i tell you!) and fox and phesants and hawks and deer and more than i can think of at 5:30 am. i love my state and i love new england.

connecticut state parks

Winter An Ideal Time For Hiking Near Marsh, So Caretakers Offer Walks
By PETER MARTEKA
Courant Staff Writer
January 2 2006
Although Jim Woodworth believes the Great Meadows are beautiful any time of the year, the best place to visit them may be in the middle of a New England winter."You don't have to worry about being attacked by mosquitoes or avoiding poison ivy," said Woodworth, president of the nonprofit Great Meadows Conservation Trust. "These sometimes aren't the best places to visit in the summer unless you are in a boat."The trust, made up mostly of residents from Glastonbury, Rocky Hill and Wethersfield, helps preserve land in a 4,500-acre swath of meadows and flood plains along the Connecticut River - the largest freshwater marsh in the state. This month and next, the group is teaming up with the Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Glastonbury to sponsor a series of walks in Glastonbury, Wethersfield and East Hartford.Judy Harper, director of the center, said the idea for the winter hikes came from Larry Lunden, a West Hartford resident who serves on the center's regional board. Lunden is also the land management chair of the trust."It's a good partnership and good way to get the numbers up," Harper said. "Plus it's good to showcase something area residents probably don't get to see.""Nature Walk in the Connecticut River Flood Plain #1" will be a tour of Glastonbury's historic meadows Jan. 14. The meadows still remain in their relatively pristine state. Lunden will take participants along the meadows and the banks of the river. "This is a good way to promote and show people what is being protected," Lunden said. "These properties would be rather difficult to find on your own. It's also a good way to annually inspect our parcels and talk about what's going on." "There's always a good chance to see eagles this time of year," Woodworth added. "This is a wonderful part of the meadow because there's no roads running through it and it's totally private."...............

i didn't know the piper brook was closing

nor did i know il capriccio had already closed. it's a shame the neighborhood joints have to close. those are my favorite types. i'm not a 'max' or 'grants' type o' babe. i'm more for the relaxed atmospheres, the simple foods and the more down to earth clientele

Piper Brook Restaurant's Last Call
By CAROLYN MOREAU
Courant Staff Writer
January 2 2006
WEST HARTFORD -- After 25 years, the Piper Brook Restaurant, a neighborhood place known for its relaxed atmosphere and loyal regulars, closed for good Saturday. "You could always come here and be with friends," said Alison Byrnes, 38, of Wethersfield.As '70s rock music blared near the bar, Byrnes recounted all the things she loved about the place. There was the food - grilled shrimp in a sauce of Russian dressing, Tabasco and "some magic stuff we don't know about" was a house specialty, she said. There was the ambience - relaxed and unpretentious. And above all, there were the people. "It's a sad day," Byrnes said, brushing away a tear. "It's like in the top five of sad days."But in the days before closing, it was hard for the owner, the cook, the bartender and the waitresses to agree who deserved the most pity. Joe Mendes, the cook, declared it wasn't him. With quick hands and endless energy, Mendes is the kind of person that is always doing something."Life goes on," he said, shrugging off the loss of a job he has held for 18 years. "You can't cry over it. You get another job. What are you going to do?"Mendes plans to work at the Chowder Pot IV in Hartford. It's a good job, Mendes said. But it won't be like the Piper Brook, where he ran the show and where the pots, sauté pans, knives and chopping boards were hung neatly over the gas stove top exactly the way he wanted. "I feel sorry for the boss," Mendes said Friday, glancing toward the dining room where owner Roger Grano, a former Hartford firefighter, was contemplating his departure from the restaurant business. "He ain't got nothing. He can't sell it," Mendes continued. "That is why if you don't own your own building, it is not good.".............

lily is still at a connecticut humane society shelter

even though it's a no-kill shelter, lily needs a REAL home. i can't wait until they build their animal sanctuary. i've seen television commercials for it. what a wonderful idea!


Humane Society saves lives
By SARA CAPOZZI , The Herald Press
NEWINGTON -- Lily is not your typical pit bull. Weighing in at just 40 pounds, the caramel colored female has neither the unwieldy size or aggressive temperament often characteristic to the breed.
"She’s like a poodle in a pit bull body," Lily’s trainer Joanne Draper said. "She has such a refined demeanor and a lady-like temperament ..she’s a pleasure to be around."But despite her gentle, affectionate nature, Lily has yet to be adopted from the Connecticut Humane Society’s Fox Memorial Clinic."It’s unbelievable she’s still here, it’s shocking to me," Draper said. "She’s been a real heart breaker for us because she’s such a wonderful dog."Lily, now a year and a half old, was brought to the Humane Society’s Bethany office by her former owner six months ago along with another pit bull, Oz.Lily was pregnant at the time and since then all of her puppies and their father Oz have been adopted.Despite the fact that the others were adopted fairly quickly, Draper said she believes the reason Lily still hasn’t been adopted is her breed."It’s because she’s a pit bull," Draper said. "If she were a Labrador retriever, she would have been gone in two weeks."Typically, pit bulls stay in the kennel for months longer than other dogs, Draper said.The Connecticut Humane Society operates no kill shelters, where there is no time line for how long an animal can stay at the facility.Still, employees at Fox Memorial Clinic said being in a kennel this long has made Lily depressed.Luckily there may soon be another option for animals like Lily, who are wonderful animals, but for whatever reason do not get adopted.Within the next year, the Connecticut Humane Society plans to build an animal sanctuary near its Waterford kennel.The animal sanctuary will provide animals with medical care and compassion in a home-like setting. Animals will live in small groups in cozy cottages located on 68 acres of land, giving them plenty of space to run and play.................

modern slavery. right here right now, yes, in connecticut

almost a million people a year (MOSTLY WOMEN OF COURSE) are trafficked across the us borders as forced labor or prostitutes or much worse i'm sure. let's not let them remain invisible.

UP FROM SLAVERY Woman Tells Of Years Of Servitude In Haiti, Fairfield County
By LISA CHEDEKEL
Courant Staff Writer
January 1 2006
Her high school graduation picture is a lie.In it, Micheline Slattery is just another wiry teenager in a white cap and gown, mugging for the camera with her family - three cherubic children and their mother.But behind Slattery's practiced smile is an anguish she kept from classmates and teachers at Norwalk's Brien McMahon High School. The only clue to the truth is a ragged scar on her left cheek - the work of a butcher knife wielded in fury.The older woman in the picture had sealed Slattery's shame four years earlier, when she had the girl smuggled from their native Haiti to Connecticut to become a "restavec," or child servant, who would be her maid, cook and nanny. Slattery knew her own worth: $2,500, and not a cent more."I remember the day she picked me up at Kennedy Airport. I was crying. She yelled at me, `Shut up. I just paid $2,500 for you,'" Slattery recalled. "Since that day, I carried that number in my head. I thought that was what I owed her."Slattery, an orphan who says she endured a childhood of abuse in Haiti at the hands of estranged relatives who made her their servant, is one of a handful of victims of human trafficking who have emerged from anonymity to draw attention to what some call "modern-day slavery."Her decision to speak out comes as Connecticut and other states are considering ways to toughen penalties for those accused of human trafficking, and to improve support services for victims.Slattery, now 29 and working as a nurse outside Boston, says she was among a number of Haitian children brought to Connecticut in the late 1980s and 1990s and sold to families as domestic workers. Some of her own relatives, whom she will not name for fear of retribution, were involved in the trafficking. "It was the way they made their money," she said. "These were church-going people who drove school buses and worked in the community, and this was their business."The U.S. Department of State calls human trafficking "among the fastest growing criminal activities" worldwide, estimating that as many as 800,000 people a year, mostly women and girls, are trafficked across international borders, many for prostitution and others for forced labor. Of those, between 14,500 and 17,500 are believed to be trafficked into the U.S.Authorities in Connecticut say they have no estimates of the numbers of illegal immigrants who are smuggled into the state or who are victims of human trafficking, which involves coercion and exploitation. But several recent arrests, as well as the state's proximity to New York and Boston, have raised concerns......................

happy new year!

i wanted to hear one of my favorite bands tonight, the niagaras. i knew there was a very good chance they wouldn't make it to connecticut from new york city due to the snow. i still don't know if they showed or not. i also know it probably wouldn't be a good idea for me to be driving about in the snow later on in the evening or early this morning. so, i decided to stop for a quick hello and happy new year to friends early. i was home by 6:00. the roads were a mess. i did get some great pasta with vegetables though (thanks matt) and a promise for fresh sweet potato fries next week (i'm a happy woman).